1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever type connector which fits a male housing to a female housing by rotating a lever mounted to the male housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a proposed lever type connector, there is a structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. A lever type connector 1 is provided with a male housing 3, a rotatable lever 5 in which a portion between one side and another side in a longitudinal direction is connected to the male housing 3, a connection portion 7 for connecting the lever 5 to the male housing 3, and a female housing 9 in which the male housing 3 is received and fitted.
The male housing 3 has a plurality of terminal receiving chambers 11 in which terminals, which are not shown, are respectively received. A projection portion 13 is formed on both side surfaces in a width direction of the male housing 3. The male housing 3 protrudes along a vertical direction of one side in the longitudinal direction, and a guide rib 17 having a through hole 15 is formed.
The lever 5 is provided with a pair of side wall 19 arranged so as to oppose each other via the male housing 3, and an operation portion 20 which connects the side walls 19 and 19 to each other in an upper portion of another side in the longitudinal direction. A protruding portion 21 received within the through hole 15 of the guide rib 17 is provided in one side of the longitudinal direction of the side wall 19. An engagement hole 23 engaging with the projection portion 13 of the male housing 3 is provided in the side wall 19. An engagement projection 25 is protruded from a lower portion of an outer side surface between the protruding portion 21 and the engagement hole 23, in the side wall 19.
The connection portion 7 is constituted by the projection portion 13 provided in the male housing 3, and the engagement hole 23 is provided in the lever 5. The connection portion 7 is structured such that the projection portion 13 and the engagement hole 23 are engaged respectively so as to connect the portion between one side and another side of the lever 5 to the male housing 3. The lever 5 rotates around the projection portion 13.
The female housing 9 has a hood portion 27 to which the male housing 3 is fitted. An engagement groove 31 is provided along a vertical direction, on an inner peripheral surface of the hood portion 27. The engagement groove 31 corresponds to the engagement projection 25 of the lever 5. The engagement groove 31 of the hood portion 27 has an engagement step portion 29 with which the engagement projection 25 is engaged at a time when the lever 5 rotates. The engagement step 29 forms a supporting point together with the engagement projection 25. A guide groove 33 to which the guide rib 17 is inserted is provided at positions corresponding to the guide rib 17 of the male housing 3, on an inner peripheral surface of the hood portion 27. A plurality of opposing terminals 35 connected to the terminals of the male housing 3 are protruded from a bottom surface in an inner portion of the hood portion 27.
In the lever type connector 1, when fitting the male housing 3 to the female housing 9, the engagement projections 25 and 25 of the lever 5 are engaged with the engagement step portions 29 and 29 of the engagement grooves 31 and 31 in the female housing 9 so as to form a supporting point. Further, the operation portion 20 of the lever 5 is pressed to a lower portion corresponding to a front end side in a fitting direction between the male housing 3 and the female housing 9 so as to be rotated. The male housing 3 is directly pressed by the application of force to the projection portion 13 due to a lever effect of the rotating lever 5 and a pressing force for pressing the operation portion 20. Accordingly, the male housing 3 moves downward as a whole. As a result, the male housing 3 is fitted within the hood 27 of the female housing 9. In this state, the lever 5 is received within the hood portion 27 of the female housing 9 together with the male housing 3.
In this case, in the lever type connector 1 proposed as mentioned above, the male housing 3 and the female housing 9 are fitted by utilizing the lever effect obtained by the lever 5 rotating around one side corresponding to the supporting point. Accordingly, it is necessary to incline the lever 5 upward from one side to another side in the longitudinal direction in a normal state. Therefore, the lever 5 is arranged obliquely with respect to the vertical direction. In this case, the normal state means a state of inclining the lever 5 upward from one side to another side in the longitudinal direction in a state that the lever is connected to the male housing 3 as shown in FIG. 2. The direction of the force applied to the projection portion 13 of the male housing 3 due to the pressing force for pressing the operation portion 20 at a time of rotating the lever 5 is obliquely downward. As a result, in the lever type connector 1, the male housing 3 is directly pressed downward due to a component force in a vertical direction of the force applied to the projection portion 13, and there is generated a loss in the force which directly presses the male housing 3 downward at a degree of a component force in a direction crossing with the vertical direction of the force applied to the projection portion 13. There is a risk that the operability of the fitting operation between the male housing 3 and the female housing 9 is reduced due to the loss of the pressing force.
However, in the lever type connector 1, in order to compensate for the loss of the force applied to the projection portion 13 of the male housing 3, a size between the projection portion 13 corresponding to an axis of rotation and the operation portion 20 in the lever 5 is increased by extending another side of the lever 5. The force applied to the projection portions 13 is increased by the force due to the lever effect of the rotating lever 5 and the pressing force. Then, the operation portion 20 largely protrudes from the female housing 9 in the fitting state between the female 3 and male housings 9. Accordingly, there is a risk that the structure is enlarged as a whole.
An object of the present invention is to provide a lever type connector which can improve an operability of a fitting operation between female and male housings without enlarging the size.
The first aspect of the present invention provides a lever type connector comprising: a male housing; a lever in which a portion between one side and another side in a longitudinal direction is rotatably pivoted to the male housing; a female housing for receiving and fitting the male housing; a projection portion provided to either one of the male housing and the lever; and an engagement hole provided in the other of the male housing and the lever, engaging with the projection portion, wherein the engagement hole is formed to be longer toward one side of the lever with respect to the projection portion, and wherein the lever is displaceable to another side with respect to a fitting position when fitting state between the female housing and the male housing in a normal stage.
According to the first aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, when fitting the male housing to the female housing, the lever is previously displaced to another side with respect to the fitting position. In this state, one side is engaged with the side of the female housing from the connection portion of the lever so as to form the supporting point. At this time, when fitting state between the female and male housings, by displacing the lever to one side according to the rotation, the lever can be arranged at the fitting position so as to be received within the female housing together with the male housing.
The second aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the projection portion is provided to the male housing and the engagement hole is provided in the lever.
The third aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is gradually inclined from one side of the lever toward another side of the lever in the normal state of the lever.
According to the third aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, when fitting the male housing to the female housing, in addition to the lever effect due to the rotation of the lever, and a component force in a vertical direction applied to the projection portion due to the pressing force pressing another side to the connection portion of the lever, the engagement hole of the lever displacing to one side slides the projection portion. Accordingly, it is possible to move the male housing to the front end side in the fitting direction of the female housing.
The fourth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is gradually inclined to a rear end side in a fitting direction of the male housing to the female housing from one side of the lever toward another side in the normal state of the lever, and the engagement hole is curved to the rear end side at a middle portion between one side and another side of the engagement hole, and crosses with the fitting direction at a predetermined rotational position of the lever from the middle portion to the another side, or is slightly inclined in a direction crossing with the fitting direction.
According to the fourth aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, when the lever is displaced to one side, another side slides the projection portion from the middle portion of the engagement hole so as to press against the front end side in the fitting direction. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the component force generated in the direction crossing with the fitting direction.
The fifth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising: a holding step portion provided in the lever and the male housing, and engaging with each other when displacing the lever to another side with respect to the fitting position in the normal state.
According to the fifth aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, when displacing the lever to another side with respect to the fitting position in the normal state, the holding steps provided in the lever and the male housing engage with each other. Accordingly, it is possible to maintain the displacement of the lever to another side.
The sixth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising: a slide guiding portion provided in another side of the lever, which slides to a side of the female housing when the lever rotates.
According to the sixth aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, at a time of fitting the male housing to the female housing, the male housing moves to the front end side in the fitting direction to the female housing. Then, the slide guiding portion of the lever previously displaced to another side with respect to the fitting position slides to the side of the female housing so as to displace the lever to one side. Accordingly, in the fitting state between the male housing and the female housing, it is possible to securely arrange the lever in the fitting position.
The seventh aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is gradually inclined in a fitting direction from one side toward another side with respect to a direction crossing with the fitting direction of the male housing to the female housing in the normal state of the lever.
The eighth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is gradually inclined in a reverse direction to a fitting direction from one side toward another side with respect to a direction crossing with the fitting direction of the male housing to the female housing in the normal state of the lever.
The ninth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is gradually inclined along a direction crossing with a fitting direction of the male housing to the female housing in the normal state of the lever.
The tenth aspect of the present invention provides the lever type connector according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the engagement hole is inclined in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the lever.